The
Democratic Party used the tariff as an issue to mobilize its followers. Democrats
usually agreed on the principle of free trade (a tariff for revenue needs only).
Other issues might raise emotions and divide the party's constituency. The tariff
held Democrats together.
The
Democratic platform in 1912 supported a dramatic reduction in tariff duties. Wilson
spoke in favor of freer trade. Democratic strategists thought the
tariff issue provided a sure route
to victory.
The Republicans attacked the
Democrats on the tariff. The Republican cartoonist suggested what Wilson's tariff
policy would mean. European goods would flood across the dike, drowning American
manufacturers and American workers.
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